All the Things We Fear
by dayglo1
Summary: The owl came on a Thursday.
1. Prologue

**Title: All the Things We Fear**

**Prologue**

**Author's Note: No, I haven't abandoned my fic "Witness". I had almost finished it when my computer became possessed and ate half of the chapters, including most of the ones that came first. I'm working on rewriting them all, and will hopefully post new ones in the next couple of weeks or so. Meanwhile here's a new fic, and a different kind of a one for me. It's a future fic, and while Dudley Dursley is the main canon character, everyone else makes an appearance too, and them some. The title is inspired by a Deepak Chopra quote: "The things we fear the most are things that have already happened to us." Hope you all enjoy!**

The owl came on a Thursday.

Dudley Dursley was turning into his driveway when he saw it. Large and tawny, with an official-looking envelope in its beak. His heart skipped a beat for a second, and he had to force himself out of the car and toward the animal. Harry knew better than to send letters by owl, and it wasn't like he sent them often, anyway. He knew what this was. Truth be told, he'd been waiting for the owl's arrival since Niamh's 11th birthday last week. With shaking hands, he took the envelope, then went inside, glad that Rebecca had taken the kids to visit her mother that afternoon. He sat, with the letter in his hands, turning it over and over again, considering his options. He didn't have many.

He had told himself, for _years_ he had told himself, that he was being foolish. He was paranoid, growing up with Potter had made him that way, made him see things that weren't really there. Niamh didn't _really _make the bottle come to her when she was hungry as a baby. Alfie didn't _really_ turn his sister's Barbie into roach after they had a fight. The two didn't _really_ make their hair grow back after bad haircuts. He was imagining things. It wasn't true. It _couldn't_ be true. He turned the letter over again in his hands. This single square of parchment contained all the things he had always feared within it.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sudden opening of the front door. Dudley stuffed the envelope in his briefcase and stood up just as Niamh and Alfie ran into the house, Rebecca trailing behind them. Pasting a smile on his face, he greeted them as normally as he could.

The letter would have to wait.

TBC


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: All the Things We Fear**

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter 1**

Harry Potter wove through the crowds of London on his way to the Happy Leprechaun Pub. He'd been surprised when Dudley had called him, and even more surprised when he'd said he needed to see him right away. Still, Harry had agreed and suggested next Saturday, when he and Ginny would be in the area to take the kids to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. No, Dudley said, it had to be sooner than that. So, here he was on a Friday afternoon, fighting his way to a pub to talk to someone he hadn't seen in four years, instead of going home to his family for the weekend.

Although he and Dudley no longer hated each other as they had in their youth, neither were they exactly friends. Acquaintances, maybe. Possibly even friendly acquaintances, sometimes, but nothing more than that. They called occasionally, and their children had met once or twice, but that was all.

Finally, he made his way into the pub. He immediately spotted Dudley's huge form slouched over in a corner booth, working on what appeared to be his fourth or fifth beer. Cautiously, Harry made his way over and sat down across from him, waving off the approaching waitress.

"What's going on, Dudley?"

Instead of answering, he continued drinking his beer with one hand, while he pushed an envelope across the table with the other. Harry had to do a double take before he believed what he was seeing. "Niamh got a letter?!"

Dudley finally set down his bottle. "Yeah."

Despite himself, a grin spread over Harry's face. "Huh."

He glowered at his cousin. "It's _not_ funny."

Harry disagreed, but Dudley seemed to be genuinely upset by it, so he forced himself to control his smile. "What'd Rebecca say?"

He grunted. "Didn't tell her."

This time, Harry couldn't control his reaction. "You didn't tell her?! Don't you think Niamh will?"

Dudley couldn't bring himself to look at him. "Didn't tell her, either."

"What?!"

Dudley pulled himself straight and brought his impressive bulk far enough across the table to make Harry lean back. "What was I supposed to tell them? They don't know anything about your kind, your world. What was I supposed to say? 'Rebecca you know my cousin Harry and his wife Ginny? Well, they're wizards. And guess what? So are Niamh and Alfie. Since Niamh's eleven now, we have to send her off to some school to learn how to do magic.' How do you think _that_ would have gone over?"

Harry would have laughed if Dudley hadn't still been so close to him. Instead, he picked up on something interesting he'd said. "How do you know Alfie's magic too?"

Dudley leaned back in his seat and stared at the letter Harry still had in front of him. "Becca took them to the barber's. They both hated their hair cuts, complained about it all afternoon. Next day, their hair looked as though it had never been touched." He looked up. "Sound familiar?"

Harry had to admit he was right. He was also astounded at Dudley's perception and memory, although he didn't think he'd admit that part. "So what are you going to do?"

Dudley put his head in his beefy hands. "Ruddy hell, Harry, damned if I know. How did this even happen? It was _your_ mum who was a witch, not mine. We don't have magic anywhere on _my _line." Still with his head in his hands, Dudley realized that Harry was suspiciously quiet. Forcing himself to lift his head up, he noticed that Harry was looking anywhere but at him. "I don't, do I?"

Harry swallowed, "Well…"

Dudley slapped the table hard enough for the patrons at the next booth to look over at them. He ignored them, but hunched in closer. He did _not_ want people overhearing this conversation. "_Do I_?"

Harry sighed. "You've met Hermione Weasley, right? She and her husband Ron came over for dinner one time with you and Rebecca?" Dudley was confused by the question, but nodded his remembrance. Harry continued. "Well, she's a Muggle-born, too." At Dudley's questioning look, he explained. "A magic person born to two non-magic people, or what we call Muggles. Anyway, she's done some research into why Muggle-born wizards happen at all. Her theory is that Muggle-borns actually have magic somewhere in their family tree, just maybe decades, if not centuries, back. The magic blood has been diluted by generations of marrying Muggles, but it's still there. Then, when two Muggles who have magic somewhere in their lines start a family, they sometimes have children who are born magic. She reckons that's what happened to her, and to my mum. And, apparently, to Niamh and Alfie."

Dudley was quiet for a long, long time, processing all that he'd been told, all that he'd learned. Finally, he looked at Harry. "What do I do?"

Harry had never before heard that pleading tone in his cousin's voice, and it unnerved him. "Tell them. Rebecca needs to know. Niamh and Alfie deserve to know. Explain it to them, tell them what I just told you. Ginny and I are taking the kids to get their school supplies next Saturday, you guys can come with us, if you want. Lily will be the same year as Niamh, and so will Ron and Hermione's son, Hugo. They'll be there too. We can answer any questions you have, and maybe it will help if you can _see_ our world, your children's world."

His children's world. And so it would be. It wasn't his world, nor would it ever be. But maybe, he could understand theirs, if only a little bit. "Alright, I'll do that. I'll call next Friday?"

Harry nodded as Dudley hefted his bulk out of his seat. "No problem. Tell Rebecca she can call us before that if she needs to."

Dudley nodded. He stood by Harry, who was still seated. Struggling with himself, he finally got the unfamiliar word out. "Thanks."

Harry waved it off but acknowledged his appreciation of it with a nod of his head. Dudley had already turned to leave when a sudden thought popped into his head. "What are you going to tell your mum and dad?"

Dudley froze for a moment, then slowly turned around, huge and glowering. Harry shrank slightly in his seat. Without a word, Dudley turned back around and lumbered out the door.

As soon as he was gone, Harry dropped his head into his arms on the table and laughed himself silly.

**TBC**


End file.
